Thursday, May 28, 2015

Thursday, May 28, 2015

I've been busy getting my back-pack pulled together with all my gear. I'm feeling like I'm taking too much stuff this time, and I know my pack will be very heavy. It's already around 30 lbs, but that includes some of the food that I'll be taking along. The good news is that there is lot of water in the Northern Oregon Section of the PCT where I'll be starting, so I won't be worried about water and I won't have to carry a lot of water during the day. Most of the time, I'll be camping near water as well.

One problem that I seem to have, as the days pass by, is I keep thinking of additional 'stuff' that I need to take. Mose of it is fairly light, but when you add it all together, the sum of it all is HEAVY. I usually don't carry any rope, but I thought that I should be better with my food and hang it from a tree. The rope only weighs less than a pound, but it still adds up.

Today, I went for about a 3 mile hike with my loaded pack, just to make sure it is going to work OK. This is often called a "shake down" hike.

I went to Hull's Gulch, which is located at the end of 8th Street near Boise. It was a beautiful morning for hiking.﻿

I still have not secured transportation to Hood River, Oregon. There's a Greyhound bus that leaves Tuesday evening for $60 one-way. The problem is that it arrives in Hood River at 4:00 a.m.! There's also a bus that leaves Boise on Wednesday Morning, and gets to Hood River in the afternoon ... same price. That one sounds better to me.

I've posted an advertisement on Craig's List asking for a ride to Hood River, and I can probably get a ride for around $30 - $40. I'll wait to see if I get any responses before I buy a ticket on Greyhound.

And there's always the option of just hitch-hiking. I've had fairly decent luck getting rides between Boise and Portland in the past, and you can be sure that there will be plenty of travelers going that direction. I even started building some good Karma ... the other day while driving on I-84 between Boise and Meridian, there was a young guy walking with a gas can in his hand, so I stopped and gave him a ride to the gas station. I even offered to give him a ride back to his car. Some people call this "paying it forward."